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The Beguiled
The Beguiled (1971) is a drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil. Plot Close to the end of the American Civil War, injured Yankee soldier John McBurney is rescued on the verge of death by a twelve year old girl from an all-girl boarding school in Louisiana. At first the all-female staff and pupils are scared, but as John starts to recover, he charms them one by one and the sexually repressed atmosphere becomes filled with jealousy and deceit. A few of the girls go after him as well. After rejecting the headmistress for a younger girl, McBurney gets his comeuppance in the form of some painful Freudian symbolism — he falls down the stairs. Eventually his leg is amputated by the headmistress, so as to avoid gangrene. After going on a rampage that scares all of the women, he reforms and announces his intention to marry one of the teachers, but it is too late; he has alienated the youngest girl, the one who first found him, by killing her pet turtle after throwing it aside in a drunken rage. In response, she is coached to pick mushrooms that the headmistress and girls use to poison him. Cast *'Clint Eastwood' as Corporal John 'McBee' McBurney *'Geraldine Page' as Martha Farnsworth *'Elizabeth Hartman' as Edwina Dabney *'Jo Ann Harris' as Carol *'Darleen Carr' as Doris *'Mae Mercer' as Hallie *'Pamelyn Ferdin' as Amelia 'Amy' *'Melody Thomas Scott' as Abigail *'Peggy Drier' as Lizzie Production Screenwriter Albert Maltz had originally written a script with a happy ending, in which Eastwood's character and the girl live happily ever after. Both Eastwood and director Don Siegel felt that an ending more faithful to that of the book would be a stronger anti-war statement, however, and the ending was altered so that Eastwood's character would be killed. Made right before Dirty Harry, this was a bold early attempt by Eastwood to play against type. It was not a hit, likely due to uncertainty on Universal's part concerning how to market it, eventually leading them to advertise the film as a hothouse melodrama: “One man...seven women...in a strange house!" "His love... or his life..." Eastwood had recently signed a long-term contract with Universal but became angry with the studio because he felt that they botched its release. This eventually led to him leaving the studio in 1975 after the release of The Eiger Sanction, which he directed as well as starred in. He wouldn't work with Universal again until 2008's Changeling. Two of the main stars of the film, Elizabeth Hartman and Geraldine Page, died in the same week. Hartman died on Wednesday, June 10, 1987 of suicide. Page died Saturday, June 13, 1987 of a heart attack. References External links * Category:1971 films Category:American films Category:American Civil War films Category:Films directed by Don Siegel Category:English-language films fr:Les Proies (film, 1971) it:La notte brava del soldato Jonathan ja:白い肌の異常な夜 pt:The Beguiled tr:Kadın Affetmez